Preventing Medication Errors

More than 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by drug errors in various settings, including nursing homes. The Institute of Medicine (IOM), in its most recent report, evaluated medication errors in a broad range of settings, and finding tremendous room for improvement.1 In the report, the IOM states that at least one-quarter of all medication-related injuries are preventable. Gurwitz et al2,3estimated that 800,000 preventable medication-related injuries occur annually in nursing homes across the country.

Most of the “medication errors” in long-term care (LTC) settings, ...